The Kroger Co., one of the US’s largest grocery chains, will begin selling E85 ethanol fuel at stations in central Ohio beginning in August. The first Ohio Kroger fuel station with E85 will be in Columbus.

The company is making station improvements needed to offer E85 in Ohio and plans to offer E85 at more Kroger fuel centers as consumer demand grows. Specific locations throughout central Ohio, Dayton, Cincinnati and Toledo will be announced as they come on line.

We believe customer interest in this alternative fuel will grow as it becomes more conveniently available.

—Bruce Macaulay, President of Kroger’s Great Lakes division

The Kroger Great Lakes division, based in Columbus, includes 245 grocery stores in Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia. Kroger operates more than 600 supermarket fueling stations nationwide, including more than 80 in Ohio, all of which are located next to Kroger retail grocery stores. Kroger also operates more than 700 convenience store fueling sites in the US.

Kroger launched E85 fuel stations in Texas last month and is exploring additional opportunities to offer customers E85 fuel throughout the US. Kroger Plus Card customers will enjoy the additional per gallon savings offered on all types of fuel.

Comments

I haven't seen any of the Kroger owned groceries in the NW offering gas stations of any kind (Fred Meyer and QFC don't offer gas stations as far as I have seen). I wonder if they have any plans to do so? Of course Safeway has gas stations at most of their groceries here in the NW.

I am glad they are offering E85. It will grow rapidly when people have the chance to buy it. In southern Indiana there are no E85 stations. Maybe Wal-Mart or Kroger will be the first to start the tipping point.

In Europe E85 can only become a cost effective alternative to petrol when governements grant specific tax cuts. That dispite the high prices voor petrol in the EU.
I can't see how E85 can be an alternative in the USA where a gallon (litre in the civilised world) costs a lot less than in Europe.
Can anyone explain this?

E85 could not be competitive with gasoline because currently and in foreseen future it is not physically possible to produce ethanol in quantities more then 5% of total gasoline production.

With current prices for crude oil of 70+ US$ per barrel wholesale gasoline price is about 2+ US% per gallon, or for you as dweller of civilized world hawing troubles with multiplication and division it is 0.53+ US$ per liter. Everything else is pretty much governmental taxes imposed on gasoline.

Kroger is a Cincinnati based grocery chain. It is a dominant player in both Ohio and Virginia under that name. It has other grocery names as well. In the Virginia area, about 1/3 of the groceries have associated gas stations.

E85 is not competitive with gasoline. It is more expensive to motor on E85 and thus is only for true believers who think they are somehow helping the environment.

I emailed Kroger and asked them where their gas came from. Here's their lame answer:

Thank you for contacting The Kroger Co. We appreciate your inquiry regarding our fuel and where it comes from.

Our fuel supplier information is proprietary, however, we can say it is supplied by a nationally recognized company. According to published reports, Venezuela, Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia provide the majority of the crude oil used by U.S. refineries. Thanks again for your inquiry.

I have been a Kroger customer for many years and have bought Kroger gasoline using my Kroger Plus card. I am sorry to say I will not buy your gas any longer because it sounds as if you are buying it from Saudi Arabia.You may have not come right out and said who your supplier is, but if it wasn't from the Saudi Arabia you would have been proud to share that information with the public.I am proud to be an American and will not support a company who supports countries who are trying to kill us. That's what you are doing when you are buying their gasoline....supporting our enemy.

Hey Bill how are you associated with Kroger, Christie above gave her title, it would be nice to know if you really know what you are talking about, I'm like everyone else until I find out different from now on I'll buy my gas at Wal-Mart instead of Kroger like I have been.